Cheryl Angel - This oral history interview was recorded on September 20, 2025, at the Blowing Rock Art and History Museum.
Story
This story was submitted on December 4, 2025 by Admin
- Title
- Cheryl Angel - This oral history interview was recorded on September 20, 2025, at the Blowing Rock Art and History Museum.
- Description
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This oral history interview features Cheryl Angel, recorded on September 20, 2025, at the Blowing Rock Art and History Museum. Angel's account is a comprehensive written narrative titled "Western North Carolina versus Helene, 9-27-24," documenting her experience from a cabin built on pure granite at 4,300 feet elevation. The narrative begins with a tornado warning on Thursday evening, September 26th at 9:57 p.m., when a rotational cloud was spotted at Grandfather Mountain about 10 miles away. Angel, her husband, and their cat Charlie retreated to their concrete crawl space under the garage, waiting for the "freight train sound" that never came. They filled gallons of water anticipating power outages, but no one suggested evacuation—the Charlotte news station forecast 60 mph winds and 6-10 inches of rain, conditions that didn't seem alarming for their location. Power flickered off at 6:25 a.m. Friday and went out completely at 8 a.m. for what became 11 days. Blue Ridge Energy reported 23 of 27,000 customers without power.
Angel describes five hours of terror as multi-directional winds swayed immovable hemlocks and large trees, with sheets of sideways rain seeping through log cabin knot holes, dripping down walls and puddling on floors. They hammered nails into logs to hold towels for absorption. When she tried to rescue a hummingbird feeder, the wind blew her back inside. With no internet and cell towers jammed or destroyed, they were essentially cut off—even two-line texts required three attempts to send. Her brother in Raleigh finally confirmed they were one-third to halfway through the storm around 9 a.m. By 1 p.m., winds decreased and her rain gauge showed 7.5 inches; later it reached 14.25 inches (likely more given sideways rain), with reports of 65+ mph winds. Two huge oaks fell, one missing their heat pump by feet, another missing the Jeep her husband had moved the night before, and just brushing their new garage doors. Neighbors explored and found they were trapped—trees, downed power poles, and a landslide blocked both directions. One neighbor on home oxygen therapy was running low on battery charge with Lincare diverting calls to Oklahoma; they used a generator to keep her batteries charged. A mother with three young children was alone while her husband remained at Watauga Hospital on emergency protocol, finally getting home Sunday by going off-road. A contractor neighbor with heavy equipment began chainsawing and grading an alleyway just wide enough for vehicles.
Angel's narrative continues with detailed journal entries through November 22nd (56 days post-Helene), documenting the long recovery process. She describes the feeling of total loss of control when trapped, the guilt of leaving neighbors who had nowhere else to go, and the devastation witnessed driving out—a double-wide jammed under a bridge, the Watauga River Bridge on Highway 321 washed over with debris, muddy flooded ruins replacing fall beauty. She emphasizes critical communication failures: evacuation orders were issued but never reached mountain residents, a "huge safety and communication issue" that needs addressing. Angel volunteered for eight weeks at the Banner Elk Historic Rock School Resource Center, which served over 4,000 families with 700+ volunteers before closing November 23rd. She witnessed both abuse of the system (people driving hours to fill vans for unaffected areas) and genuine need (a local girl who lost all her shoes to flooding). The narrative addresses housing crises, FEMA presence, fraudulent claims, trauma responses (one person panicking at rain forecasts), and the long-term nature of recovery. Angel describes Banner Elk's remarkable resilience—the town manager pulled off a virtual Wooly Worm Festival while rebuilding the water system, 98% of water/sewer service was restored, and Christmas decorations went up for a "Small Town Christmas" celebration December 6-8. Her final entry from June 27th (nine months post-Helene) notes that leaves on trees now cover fallen and broken trees that haven't been removed, creating an appearance of normalcy, though the community still dreads the first anniversary. She met a sweet elderly neighbor who asked for their names to add to her prayer list, reminding Angel of her late mother on what would have been her 92nd birthday. - Spatial Coverage
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